Americans getting off their ass to actually do something? Nah. One protest every six months on a weekend is all they can muster.
this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2026
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Doesn't the constitution tell Americans what to do when this happens? Isn't "forming a militia" a thing? It is as simple as a bully trying to steal your country for himself. Will you let him?
TL;DR: "Making democratic threats legible," i.e. spreading the word about how every action Trump takes is a threat to our democracy. It has been proven in several other countries run by authoritarian governments to be effective at stomping out fascism before it can take hold.
Saved you a click.
Yeah we've been trying that for the past decade and are repeatedly told we're overreacting.
so the article is bull shit then. thanks for saving me the trouble
Fascim has already "took hold".
Even shorter TL;DR: keep stating the obvious-- it's not obvious to everyone.
I really appreciate the TLDR, as I like to know the point before I start reading the support of it. However "legible" is a horrible word for this as precise as it might be.
Once a threat becomes legible — primarily, by an elected authoritarian beginning to act in authoritarian ways once in office — people start prioritizing democracy in a way they didn’t beforehand.
Which I would rephrase as saying: 'When politicians act like dictators, document it, yell it out, and call them out."
And even that's to long and not direct enough.
So the populace has to be intelligent enough to grasp that their democracy is being threatened?
Yup. We're fucked.
But that’s been met with “you have Trump derangement syndrome” or “that will never happen, you’re exaggerating” or 1000 variations for over a decade now.
If the horse won't drink, you just keep leading it to water until it eventually gets thirsty.
Or just drown the fucker.
"Water is a democrat hoax. They put weird spy tech in it! Real men inhale hydrogen sulfide for hydration. It's Trump approved!"
The horse will eventually drink as it must to survive.
You're better off helping those that want to be helped
The metaphor meant that, as Trump continues to injure his own supporters, reminding them that he is behaving as a dictator may eventually stop them from resolving cognitive dissonance by being defensive and instead by blaming the culprit. Basically, every time you lead the horse to water is a new opportunity to drink, increasing in urgency over time.
But by all means, help those who want to be helped first.
Seems like they stopped shy of the good stuff:
- Why is it so hard to convince your fellows (I.e., Trump supporters)?
- Why is propaganda so effective and how is it currently being employed?
- What tactics can be used that aren’t already?
Worse, in the examples they give, the legislatures and/or judiciaries stood against the dictators.
Here, we have decades of propaganda fueled by the oligarchs that has removed the world view of a third of our population from reality, and it's not just Trump - the Republican party is in on the deal, from Congress to SCOTUS.
It's not the same battle. It's not the same order of magnitude. It's at least two orders of magnitude harder.
I'm not saying we shouldn't fight; rather, we should fight all the harder.
But that's why I'm not certain partition / civil war type solutions are off the table.
It's also impossible, as this requires people to read and understand, something most Americans aren't very good at. Most Americans believe what their news organizations tell them and since they've had a free pass to lie for decades now, lying is all they do.
I really don't get how people cannot get having paramilitary randomly grabbing, shooting, killing folks. Heck break car windows. cars are sacrosanct in this country. I mean seriously folks. This is not how a normal free society behaves. It drives me nuts how no one seems to get the bill of rights. We learned this in school. The declaration of independence and the greivences which are mirrored in the bill of rights to prevent the things the founding fathers fought to stop.
They don't care because the goons aren't grabbing their family members and smashing their cars.
There's a huge number of people who don't give a shit about anything beyond the ends of their own noses.
Seems worse than that. I mean I could not care about anything but me and mine and still not want others to suffer or at the very least recognize that this could eventually get to me. I mean there has to be some kind of cruelty or stupidy or mix of both to actually want and support this.
It drives me nuts how no one seems to get the bill of rights. We learned this in school.
Decades of propaganda have convinced people that the Bill of Rights doesn't apply to 'criminals' and 'illegals'.
yeah you get the bs like they meant citizens when they wrote this and its like. Wrong! They specifically used terms throughout the constitution and you can tell it is deliberate and we know from their writings they realized how many rights were effectively nullified if it does not apply to all.
Although at the same time, enshrined in there is the idea that some are worth about 60% as much as others.
Not to defend the racist fascists, mind.
Yes along with a mechanism for change to get rid of things like that.
If they didn't want it there they wouldn't have put it it. Just like they were careful not to actually get rid of slavery.
Step 1
Step 2 DONE
In itself, the answer is really simple, at least for the remaining democracies, and a solution would be entirely possible: people would have to switch to decentralized media apps, such as those provided by the Fediverse, and stop attributing so much credibility to legacy media. This would significantly reduce the scope for concerted disinformation, which is the main reason for any autocratic form of government being possible, which is of course never in the interests of citizens.
How this can be achieved is the question, and the answer can of course only be education, because the majority of people are obviously unaware of how they are being duped.
In itself, the answer is really simple, at least for the remaining democracies, and a solution would be entirely possible: people would have to switch to decentralized media apps, such as those provided by the Fediverse, and stop attributing so much credibility to legacy media. This would significantly reduce the scope for concerted disinformation, which is the main reason for any autocratic form of government being possible, which is of course never in the interests of citizens.
Sorry, but I don't think this will do it. We got into this situation because social media in general allows for fine-tuning manipulation and propaganda to specific audiences, not because they're centralized. Facebook and Cambridge Analytica were probably a but-for cause (and there are many) of Trump's first win. But it wasn't because Facebook was actively trying to help Trump, as much as it was because social media both democratized and bastardized journalism.
If everyone switched to Lemmy, Russia and others would now just focus (as I think they already have here in election years, but to a larger extent) their resources on Lemmy disinformation campaigns instead of X and Facebook. If the userbase splintered to 100 different apps instead of any centralized one, likewise targeted misinformation would follow. And viral misinformation would cross platforms, just like it already does.
Yes, education is the long-term answer.
Yes, that's true. The Fediverse is also susceptible to manipulation. That's why I'm not a fan of broad rules such as "no politics" in the largest communities, as their breadth would make it easy to buy off a few moderators, which shouldn't be a problem at all if you have even a little capital.
Nevertheless, traditional journalism is dead because its business model is simply no longer financially viable today. Investigative journalism is very expensive and, with the loss of advertising revenue (wnet to search engines and mainstream social media apps), it is simply an impossible business model today. In fact, most of the traditional media today is run at a loss by billionaires like Bezos (Washington Post, among others).
I'm not saying that the Fediverse is a promise of salvation. I'm just saying that it's the only option left.
The internet as such was originally designed to be decentralized, but it was taken over by big capital, for which we are now being presented with the bill in all the remaining democracies of the world.
In my opinion, the only response can be to do everything possible to return to decentralization, in order to at least put obstacles in the way of the powerful of this world.
I understand the sentiment and agree with the diagnosis. I just worry that the proposed cure won't address the illness. Decentralization is a band-aid at best.
I think the traditional journalism business model is just a proxy for "truth" in the sense that fact-checking and reliability is really what's at stake versus social media "news." And the substituted point is still valid - truth as a business model is no longer financially viable - but the cure I feel should be to make truth financially viable. One way to do that is to depress demand for misinformation (laws prohibiting misinformation and enforcement, creating boycott campaigns against platforms that algorithmically incentivize misinformation like Facebook and X). The other is to reward truth (educate the populace to support it, sure, but also keep funding as a social good journalism like NPR, PBS).
It's not great, but I don't feel just pushing into decentralized media will do anything except create even more competing "truths" and hasten information exhaustion. That path leads to Russia, where the populace seems mostly nihilistic and too jaded to act.
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Yes, that’s true. The Fediverse is also susceptible to manipulation.
To a somewhat lesser degree, though, since there isn't a pervasive and inescapable algorithm that aggressively pushes controversial engagement-bait posts on people.
(And also because public mod logs can make it more apparent when moderator capture is used to suppress and control narratives.)
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How this can be achieved is the question
Just fucking vote. Engage in all local, state, and federal elections. Be invested in the results. Everyone, all the time, vote on everything. Believe in democracy.
And when the voting system is rigged, what then?
On both your and daychilde's comments here...
The system gets rigged when there are fewer people invested in the democratic process, when there are fewer people actually pursuing and participating in a democratic system. The more we outsource our democratic agency to others, the more likely those others are going to be corrupt. One of the main points of the article is that democratic backsliding is a global trend. This doesn't mean that particular countries are democratically electing dictators, democratic backsliding means that across the world, incrementally, small policy changes are adding up to a less democratic world. These policies may have nothing to do with democracy in their discourse, but act to weaken the democratic process.
As an example, where I am from every school district has a set of trustees who are democratically elected in municipal elections and are tasked with ensuring that the local school board is following the Ministry of Education guidelines as they relate to the needs of the local community. Currently the state government is in the process of eliminating all trustees and appointing a single state 'administrator' to take on the role of the trustees for all districts in the state. Literally dozens of locally elected representatives are being replaced with a single state appointed administrator.
The discourse around this issue is troubling, essentially revolving around the notion that trustees are inefficient, don't know how to properly use public education dollars and are costing taxpayers more while adding no value to the education system itself. While there most certainly is an argument to be made about efficient use of tax dollars with respect to trustees, the point that a functioning democratic institution is being replaced with a centralized authoritarian ruler is completely ignored.
The point of this story is that it is significantly easier to corrupt the democratic process, whether through a rigged election, or through manipulation, or gerrymandering, or whatever, when there are fewer people engaged in the voting process. In my state the average voter turnout for municipal elections is well below 40%. The reason people aren't interested in the democratic backsliding that is caused by getting rid of trustees is because it is only a minority of people in the state who even bother to elect trustees in the first place.
Another important point that is being made in the article is that one way to effectively fight against threats to democracy is to call out those threats as they are. Getting rid of trustees may actually produce better outcomes in terms of efficiency, but we all have to acknowledge that getting rid of trustees is a direct threat to our democracy. An autocratic state is always going to be way worse for everyone than having some inefficiencies in the school board trustee system.
If there are more people engaged in the democratic process than there are more people who are able to critically scrutinize the democratic process. It is only when we are engaged in the democratic process that we can actually hold it accountable to us. The more people who believe in democracy, the deeper and stronger that democracy becomes.
The voting system may very well be rigged, but that doesn't mean you have to give up on democracy entirely. In reality, it is only when a majority of people give up on democracy that any voting system can be rigged. When the majority of people believe centralized efficiency is better than local representation, for example, democracy dies. In any case, the more people participate in the democratic process the stronger that process becomes. Just always vote. That is by far the most important and effective action you can take to prevent democratic elections from becoming rigged.
the problem the guy above is trying to call out is that traditional social media (read: algorithms dictated by the ruling class) spread misinformation and control the narrative in ways we never thought possible. voting works, yes, but without addressing the root cause—misinformation—we will end up right back where we are.
That goes without saying, but the choice of information media that people use influences their decision. As long as these information media are controlled by billionaires, which is absolutely the case for the majority of voters, not only in the US, the outcome of the elections is a foregone conclusion.
One should not assume that even obvious misinformation has no effect if it is spread widely enough. It is, of course, commendable to believe in people, but this hope is clearly dashed by the US.
Do not believe for a moment that something like this cannot happen in your home country.
Just fucking vote.
You are correct.
However, this doesn't work so well if certain groups of people are disenfranchised at a higher rate. It doesn't work if ballots are stolen and manipulated. It doesn't work if judges stop counts or recounts of votes. It doesn't work if there are fewer polling stations or drop boxes in certain areas. It doesn't work with gerrymandering. It certainly doesn't work with propaganda that encourages voter apathy.
switch to decentralized media apps, such as those provided by the Fediverse, and stop attributing so much credibility to legacy media.
Even here, most posts are just linking to an article in legacy media.
This would significantly reduce the scope for concerted disinformation
You don't think if Lemmy became large enough to be a target that it wouldn't be targeted with overwhelming bots and paid people posting propaganda?
I'd like to borrow your rose-coloured glasses, please. It'd be nice to have such a rosy worldview for a moment.
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Ive observed the Polish "fight for democracy" in recent years up close and I call bullshit. I've worked as a tech for a key "democratic" NGO behind some of the biggest protests, and Ive been on the front-lines providing security to the Women's Strike as it was assaulted by pigs and fascist militia. Most people, particularly here, don't care about abstract ideas. They care when they feel their freedom, their money, their chances are being taken away.
We had pro-democratic marches of liberal parties mobilizing mostly middle class for years and it changed nothing. Crossing the line on abortion laws did that, as it affected the working class.
digression
Personally I believe people love talking about ideals, but they are either in the ideological fan-base/larping niche, or they can afford considerations higher then securing their roof and food for the next month or they use it as a cover for what they believe will benefit or injure them personally. Most fascist supporters will claim they actually only support the "economic program" of the far right, most wont be able to give any specifics of it. Most people calling themselves left are not even members of a trade union. However we fancy ourselves deep in our brains we are still tribalistic aggressive apes fighting for resources, and trying to use as little energy for that as possible. But we love to make up justifications for it.
Every major opposition strike in "communist" Poland happened after the prices of meat went up.
Don't get me wrong; people fight for the cause, commit their life to it. This is necessary for any change to the better to be possible. Organizing is key. Mobilizing the actual working class is key. No one cares if the middle class is unhappy when the power is solidified. And trumpists will have much more votes than anyone expects again, if they manage to disappear enough people from the system for wages in some low income sectors to go up. Or even just give some people a sense of pride or a new shared enemy.
Woman's Strike was a failure in many ways, but it did mobilize enough people to vote to bring back any actual left into the parlament and slightly grow liberals margins. Barely enough to take over the parliament, after which conservatives won the presidential elections (and we got this). This american style conservative-liberal duopoly has been going strong for the last 20 years. Democracy did not win, and whoever claims so is not watching closely. We might slide down hardcore right wing, we might stay at benevolent neocon liberals, or we get a friendly visit for an old occupier, you never know.
edit: spellcheck
Liberal slop that posits we must return the wholesome big chungus good old days of healthy American democracy (as if the US wasn't born out of wholesale genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of an entire continent). You can tell this article was written by someone who just wants to go back to esting brunch while the US plunders the planet. Does the article even mention workers? If it does, it makes far more effort to put its stock in "institutions", "courts", and "elites".
American fascism is not an abberation, but the logical conclusion. This article comes from the perspective that we have to save the current system as opposed to even considering a new one.
Fascism Is Possible Not in Spite of Liberal Capitalism, but Because of It
Clintonite cosmopolitan liberalism claims that these oppressions are atavisms of the past, even though they are renewed every day. It promises to unite the world Benetton-like in a multicultural global market, where everyone is equally free to exploit and be exploited. Liberalism will occasionally apologize for its racism, sexism and colonial massacres, and may make affirmative action reforms to stabilize its rule and rationalize production, or in the case of the US government’s eventual concessions to the civil rights movement, to compete ideologically with the Soviet Union. But there is one place where it can never acknowledge illegitimate hierarchy: the workplace. And it is precisely here that the contradictions that propel the world toward fascism are rooted.
but by convincing a critical mass of people that they’re just a normal politician — no threat to democracy at all.
A.K.A: we're pretty much fucked. We have Faux News, Newsmax, OANN, and an endless supply of YouTuber/podcast jackasses to keep The Base believing the Turd Reichs version of reality. Now we also have CBS and potentially CNN to join that group....
:(
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